The present invention generally relates to camera flashes, and more particularly, to a method and system of controlling a direction of light emitted by a camera flash.
A flash light source on a camera can have a very important role in the quality of a photograph for different light conditions. Improper flash lighting intensity and direction can detract or damage the quality of the photograph. In some systems, the user of the camera can manually change an aiming direction of the flash light by manually moving a pivotal portion of a flash attachment relative to the camera. These systems suffer from the problem of being manual (instead of automated) and having limited freedom of movement and limited directional rate of change.
In one arrangement for providing automated directional change of a camera flash light, a pair of cam follower claws provided on a flash projecting portion of a zoom flash are engaged with a helicoid cam surface of a flash angle changing cam such that the flash angle projecting portion moves in the direction of the rotational axes in response to rotation of the flash angle changing cam, thereby changing the projection angle of flash light. In another arrangement for providing automated directional change of a camera flash light, there is an integrated flash head having a ring flash for taking shadowless pictures and a bar flash for taking contoured pictures. The bar flash is pivotably mounted on the ring flash housing and the ring flash housing is movable relative to the camera lens to change the orientation of the bar relative to the camera lens. An electrical circuit is provided for selectively activating either the ring flash or bar flash. Both of these arrangements suffer from a problem of a limited amount of directional control of the flash light.